Sex Canadian-style means doing it Saturday night: Survey

A new survey suggests Canadians may be abandoning Hockey Night in Canada for another body contact sport.

According to a new poll, Canadians prefer their sex on Saturdays.

Overall, the international online survey of just over 13,000 adults in 13 countries found that while Canadians are among the least spontaneous sexual beings globally, we have a slight edge over the U.S. in terms of frequency.

The survey found that Canadians aged 46 to 60 have sex an average of 1.35 times per week, which is slightly lower than the global average of 1.41 but ahead of Americans, who reported having sex on average 1.19 times per week.

(While it might seem odd that someone could have "fractional sex", the number is based on statistical averages. For accuracy, the researchers said they chose to show the average results to two decimal places.)

The survey suggests that more than half, or 56 per cent of Canadians are most likely to have sex on the weekend — with preferences for sex peaking on Saturday (67 per cent.)

Forty-four per cent prefer sex after 6 p.m.

Twenty-per cent of all Canadian respondents reported having sex less than once a month, versus the global overall of 16 per cent.

When we're not having sex, we're thinking of ways to get out of it: 40 per cent admitted using excuses — notably, exhaustion — to avoid sex.

Overall, 79 per cent of Canadians report spontaneous sex, versus 86 per cent globally. People from Portugal, Austria and Belgium report the highest levels of sexual spontaneity (all more than 90 per cent), while the Mexicans, Portuguese and Romanians have the most active sex lives, with an average frequency of twice a week.

The 10-minute online survey, conducted for Eli Lilly and Company, makers of the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis, included 1,010 respondents from Canada. The majority (45 per cent) were aged 46 to 60.

Among the findings:

- One-third of all Canadian respondents (33 per cent) reported having sex at least twice a week, but even then we're below the global average of 39 per cent;

- Men are twice as likely as women to suspect their partners of using excuses to avoid sex (41 per cent for men versus 20 per cent for women);

- Of the 40 per cent of respondents who have used excuses to avoid sex, 71 per cent claimed tiredness/fatigue;

- Women are more likely to complain of headaches (28 per cent versus 19 per cent for men); men are more likely to use "muscle pain" to avoid sex (35 per cent versus 25 per cent for women);

- Across all countries women reported being more sexually spontaneous than men (89 per cent versus 85 per cent);

- Sex seems slightly more planned in Canada (13 per cent plan for up to an hour in advance for sex, versus eight per cent globally);

Frequency of sex "is actually a pretty sensitive measure" of the health of a population, said Dr. Gerald Brock, a professor of surgery in the division of urology at the University of Western Ontario.

Studies have shown that people who have sexual concerns "simply don't have the same quality of life as individuals who have a healthy sex life," said Brock, who has acted as a paid consultant for Lilly.

"There's no question that when you restore that sexual activity and address their concerns, all measures show an improvement in overall quality of life," he said.

Men in Canada, as well as in Mexico and the U.S., were more likely to discuss performance issues with their doctors, the survey shows.

But the Internet was the most popular source of information for sex-related issues.

Brock, who served as the website chair for the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, said information online ranges from the credible to the ludicrous.

" 'Make your penis grow' has got to be the most common one, or claims about changing your physical attributes . . . . People come in and really expect there's a simple solution that's been hidden from them that they've read about on the Internet."

The survey also found that Canadian men are among the highest reported users of drugs for erectile dysfunction, or ED; 22 per cent said they had used ED medication, compared to 16 per cent globally. Brock said the numbers are low, based on research that suggests the problem affects an estimated 50 per cent of men between ages 40 and 70.

Half the men who reported using ED meds said they are purchasing their drugs online — a move Brock called "not wise."

"I get guys all the time that come to see me — and these are my own patients — who come in and, when I'm writing a prescription for them say, 'That's okay, doc, I'm all set, I got my pills on the Internet.'

"Sometimes they'll have them with them and they'll take them out, and I don't know what is in these pills," he said.

Cost, embarrassment and the fact no prescription is needed were the main reasons men cited for buying the medications online. "That means that we as health care professionals aren't doing our jobs," Brock said. "It's the stigma associated with it. It makes so many people uncomfortable to talk about their sexual concerns."

The survey, conducted in August, involved a total of 13,063 respondents from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the U.S. Sixty per cent were male, 40 per cent female.

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